Expat wanderer

Parents Don’t Want Raped 8-Year-Old, Says She Shamed Them

This very sad, very strange story is from today’s BBC News. Parents of the girl, living in Phoenix, say she brought shame on them (eight years old) and they don’t want her back. People all over the US are sending money and offers to adopt her. Eight years old – all she wanted was a stick of gum.

Offers of help are pouring in for an eight-year-old Liberian girl disowned by her own family in Phoenix, Arizona, after being raped by four boys.

The girl is under the care of the Arizona Child Protective Service (CPS) because her parents said she had shamed them, and they did not want her back.

Phoenix police said calls had come in from all over the US offering money, or even to adopt the young girl.

The boys, Liberian immigrants aged nine to 14, have been charged with rape.

The case has sparked outrage across the US and even drawn condemnation from Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, an outspoken anti-rape campaigner.

“I think that family is wrong. They should help that child who has been traumatised,” Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf told CNN.

“They too need serious counselling because clearly they are doing something, something that is no longer acceptable in our society here,” she added.

Brutal attack
Media reports said the girl was lured into a shed on 16 July with promises of chewing gum by the four young boys. There, they held her down and took turns assaulting her for 10 to 15 minutes, before her screams alerted officers nearby.

The oldest suspect, a 14-year-old boy, will be tried as an adult on charges of kidnapping and sexual assault, police said on Friday. He is being held in police custody until trial.

The other three – aged 9, 10, and 13 – are charged as juveniles with sexual assault and kidnapping.
But the police said no charges will be filed against the parents.

“They didn’t abandon the child,” Phoenix police sergeant Andy Hill told AFP news agency. “They committed no crime. They just didn’t support the child, which led to CPS coming over there.”
Sgt Hill said people from eight or nine US states had called wanting to adopt the girl or donate money.
“It has been unbelievably fantastic in terms of support for the child,” he said.

I’m hoping that this traumatized little girl gets a new family who treasures her, helps her overcome this attack, sends her to school through university and helps her to prevail.

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Thats sad! And her family is mentally disturbed! God! What are they thinking! The girl has been through hell and now shes UNWANTED in her home for something she was forced to do! They DO NEED counseling! Tsk tsk tsk! Sad, very sad!

There have been some real problems in the US with the Liberian immigrants; years and years of war for one thing, desensitizing the population, and an odd idea that having sex with children will cure you of Hiv/AIDS, imported from South Africa. I wonder what will happen with the boys – they were all really young – who raped her?

The good news is – there are so many people who want to take care of this little girl.

i wasnt aware that a 9 year old boy had the biological capabilities to rape, or have sex. this is very eerie. as for the family, the poor little girl is better off without them if this is the kind of attitude they have regarding the safety of their child! Thankfully there are a whole lot of others willing to love and support her in a way her family cant and wont.

well this just highlights the fact that there are more cons than pros when it comes to penises.

You and I obviously read the same news. Canada has its own problems with the ‘Honour Killings’ in Kingston in July. Apparently, the remedy for “family shame” is murder… or the rejection of an 8 year old child already traumatized by strangers. Ouch.

I know, DaisyMae, all I can think is that this little girl has a chance in that there are so many many people willing to raise her. She has a chance for a protected life, a good education and even university, I am betting. And – we know God can use evil circumstances to work great blessings. That is what I am praying for this little 8 year old girl.

I love it that my country is a nation of immigrants, each contributing to the strength of the nation. The other side of that coin is importing regional values and practices until they get acculturated. . . aarrgh.